Spherical bearing



-June 21, 1955 J. HAsKo ErAL SPHERICAL BEARING Filed Nov. l, 1952 Zhwentors JoH/V Ans/ 0 MM5 c P54 cQcK Gttorneg v 2,711,352 sPHERrcAL BEARnwG., v John Hasko, Compton, and James leacockufl i `Whitti er,`Calif. j Application November 1, 1952, SerlalNo. 318,256

z claims. (ci. sos-72) This invention relates to spherical bearing construction. Spherical bearings essentially comprise a race having al spherical seat, and a ball in said seat having self-aligning spherical bearing in said seat.V The ball has a bore 011- passage for a shaft or stud. Since the seat in the racehas a smaller diametral size at its ends than the diameter of the ball, interfitting of race and ball entailsa swaging op'- eration. Heretofore, such .an operation entailed- .either swaging the race aroundthe ball or swaging the race around annular inserts interposed 1 between the race and the ball. In4 either case, the swaging of the `race creates forces on the ball that affect the accuracy of interft of race and ball. Also, because of the displacementby swaging of a substantial areal portion ofthe sphericalseat,z a desiredA full contactof ball and seat is frequently vnot Obtained but rather point or line contacts that induceincreased wear and hasten the loss of accuracy of tit.

Because, in prior structures, substantial portions of the race are formed by swaging around the ball, the hardness, and, therefore, thetensile strength of the material from` which the race, is formed, is necessarily lower than if assembly were possible. without such swaging. The'bearings therefore, have poorer wear properties than they would have with races that are harder.

Recognizing the above faults in-prior spherical bearings, it is the objects of the presentinvntion to provide a race particularly adapted to be formed of high hardness metal,- to provide a race inwhich the initial'sizeand form of the spherical seat is accurately retained Aafter assembly with the ball, and to provide a more accurate and longer wearing bearing by insurance of uniform contact of ball and seat after assembly.

Another object of the invention is to obviate a swaging operation in which the race seat is forced into conformance with the ball and, to this end, to provide a two-part race in which each part has half the seat formed therein and'said two parts are permanently secured together in accurate cooperation with the ball.

Since spherical bearings embody means to provide lubrication between the race seats and the ball and it is desired to retain such lubrication within the contines of the bearing and, at the same time, to seal the bearing surfaces against dirt and dust, it is another object of the invention to provide novel means, carried by each race part, to elfect e'cient sealing of the seat and ball contact areas.

The invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily discon- Athe.drawing', Vlike reference characters designate Y s irnilzvirV parts in the several iviews.

. Sftion, and means.1. "The'ball 6 is usuallyformed of steel or other metaloflfis Va side'elevational view, partly in section, of a sphericalbearing accordingto the present invention.y

Fig. 2 isV a cross-sectional view'asv taken on line 2 2 qtrig.- 1.y f

Fig. 3 isa s1 milar view of the components of the bearing before assembly thereof. i

The' present spherical bearing comprises, generally, a. i race. y5, a ball 6 universally movablewithinsaid race, and sealing means 7 o'n opposite sides ofthe race to seal the 'bearing therebetween. l

"The ball 6 that is" shown is thewnovelty in thef'present kstructure resides in the .con-

K highhardnessandtensile strength. The sameis machined,

inch', f f v"According .tok the invention, race 5 Acomprises an outer ground, or otherwise formedto have aspherical surface A k9, a bore or'passage 1 0 shaft orthe like, an annular.

8f between parallel tlat sides adapted to receive a rod, Y groove 11 midwayof the bore 10, and atleast oney hole 12 extending .from surface 8-through to the groove 11.-V

Formed in this manner, the ball has the shape of a cask and the same may bemodiiied by providing'necks in the form v of lateral extensionslof sides 9. In practice, chromium"y plating .maybe applied to spherical surface 8 to in crease the hardness Vthereof and of vazhigh polish thereon. Also, the Vdiametral size of surfacelfis held to tolerances of .Ll-.0.000 .and -`-.0002

race part 13 and an inner race part -14 b`othlfo`rmred of a high. tensile `steel as,l for instance,4 chrome vanadium steel,

and,. t here fore,.havinghigh resistance to wear as ldoes thej whichfisori'a pointj19 located inthe plane of--a shoulder;

nected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively Y 'Ifhefoutr race part 13 is formedasan annulushaving. an outer cylindrical facelS betweenside faces 16 and 17.. Internally, oneside of said annulus is provided .with a.y

spherical seatPOrtiinn .18, the .center .of generation of wallf20 j Said shoulder. walll comprises the ,b ottornof .a

with cylindrical face 15, arelatively thin annulus 22. In practice, a radial fillet 23 is provided where shoulder wall 20 joins cylindrical bore 21. v

The spherical seat portion 18 is formed in the remaining thicker portion 24 of race part 13 and the diametral size of said seat portion is made to be'the same as the spherical surface 8 of theball except that the tolerances are reversedY to insure a maximum Vvariation of fit between said balland seat portion of some .0004 inch. Adjacent wall 20, seat' portion 18 is relieved by an annular groove 25 which, except for its larger` diametral size, is similar. tol one-half of groove 11. Adjacent side face 17, the

portion 24 of race part 13 is provided with a rectangularsectioned groove 26 toreceive and non-displaceably hold sealing means 7. InV centered alignment with shoulder Vwall 20, cylindricalsurfaee 15 is relieved by an outerV annular groove 26 and at least one ,ho1e27 connects grooves 25 and 26.

As stated, the material ofpart 13 surface 18 with desired wear-resistant properties. As will later be described, annulus 22 is folded over race part 14' during assembly of thev bearing. In order that said annulus havesuitable malleability for such folding, the same, from approximately the shoulder wall 20, isV subjected to an induction draw 'to reduce the Rockwell hardness of the metal of'said annulus. In this manner, the side of said part 13 thatfhas seat part 18 'remains hard, while annulus 22 is materially less hard and is adapted to be folded. Y

21,711,352 p Patented June 21, 1955 Vgenerally conventional and "arrangement of thefrace v5 and V`,sealing to`v enable the provisioncylindrical bore 21v that opens on` side face 16 and defines,`.

is hard t0- providel The inner race part 14 is formed as an annulus having an outer cylindrical face 28 between side faces 29 and 30."

Internally, said part 14 is formed with a spherical seat portion 31 that is the complement of seat portion 18 and which is generated on a point 32 in the plane of face 29,l with an annular groove 33 that is a complement of groove 25, and with a rectangular-sectioned groove 34 identical to groove 34 in part 13.

Cylindrical face 28 has an exact iit, with suitable minimum tolerances, in bore 21. When shoulder Wall 20 and face 28 are in abutment, points 19' and 32 coincide and the point of coincidence, therefore, is the center of generationor` spherical seat 18, 31.

In practice, an annular outer rabbet 35 is providedon the side of part 14 that is adjacent to side face 30, the

cylindrical face 28 blending into said rabbet-'on acurve 36 comparable to the curvature of fillet 23.

The sealing means 7 comprises rectangular-sectioned rubber or synthetic rubber rings that are fitted into grooves 34 and have inner faces 37 inward of seat faces 18 and 31, as best seen in Fig. 3.

The bearing is assembled by inserting ball 6'into race part 13 and in engagement with seat part`18. Then race part 14 is inserted into bore 21 with side face 2Q against shoulder wall 20. Thereafter', the outer portion of the relatively softer annulus 22 is folded inwardly into rabbet 35, and, nally, the folded side of the assembly is finished ofi by grinding or the like to be similar to the opposite side. Fig. 2 shows the iinished bearing.

lt Will be evident that ball 6 has accurate t in the spherical seat of the two-part race; that sealing rings 7 eiectively seal against dirt and confine lubricant introduced into the bearing by way of grooves 26, 25 and hole or holes 27; and that the folding operation is of such nature that the race parts 13 and 14, and particularly the latter, are not stressed and, therefore, not dis-` torted or deformed from their normal condition.

Since the race seat, as indicated, is not deformed, the ball has uniform surface contact therewith. Therefore,

the bearing is usable as assembled and does not require normalizing or stress-relieving operations, as are necessary in bearings produced according to prior methods.

While We have illustrated and described what we now contemplate to be the best mode of carrying out our invention, the construction is, of course, subiect to modication without departing from the spirit and scopef of the invention. It is, therefore, not desired to restrict the invention' to the particular forni of construction illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bearing an outer bearing raceway for seating a ball for universal movement, a ball member, said bearing raceway including a `first bearing part having a thick annular body portion provided with an annular face and an annular laterally projecting flange extending from a lateral outer marginal edge portion thereof, said first part having 'anA arcuate annular bearing surface on its inner face, a second complementary bearing part for association with said rst bearing part including a heavy body portion of annular form for snugly seating against the inner face of the tirst bearing part and its ange, said second part having a reduced projection defining a shoulder against which the peripheral edge of the laterally projecting annular tiange of the first part is seated, the

body portion of the second complementary part of the bearing raceway being provided with an annular inner bearing face of arcuate cross section, the outer face of the r'st raceway part at substantially the junction of its body and its ange' being formed with an annular recess for restricting the thickness of the ange wall at its point of connection with the body, and said ball being received Within the raceway on the annular inner bearing faces thereof.

2. The 'structure of claim 1 characterized in that the ball is formed'with an annular oil recess and said recess communicates with the annular recess of the junction of the body and wall ofthe first part by a radial port defined by the' adjacent walls of the two parts.v

References Cited in the le of this patent `UNITED STATES PATENTS Italy ..-n n- Oct. 13, 1947 

